Alphas' Embrace

by Sara Anderson

  Sam shook his head slowly. “No, Healer. She is my daughter. I will not let her go through this alone. She will see her daddy here.” Just as Sam took a seat close to Avery, Gage walked in holding Rylee’s Raggedy Ann doll.

  Avery’s eyes teared up. He must have run to get it, which is why he didn’t follow them in. Gage smiled tenderly at Rylee and kissed Avery on the cheek. “Let’s see how we can help our girl.”

  She leaned over and kissed Sam and then Gage. She wasn’t alone anymore. No matter what happened now with the healer, she wouldn’t face it alone. No more sobbing in the night wondering how she can do this all alone. She felt stronger and braver than ever. She raised her gaze to Chiron and nodded. “I’m ready. Wake her up.”

  Chiron placed his hand on her forehead and closed his eyes. “Wake, youngling.”

  Rylee’s eyes opened, and for just a moment, her face was peaceful. It took only a split second for the flashback to descend on her once again. Her back arched, and she let out a scream Avery knew all too well.

  Tears formed in Avery’s eyes as Rylee threw her arms out, reaching for her. Her wide terror-filled eyes were almost vacant as she saw the shooting rampage happening again. Avery had lived it herself—she knew exactly what Rylee was seeing. A man was shot in the head, and his face evaporated and a mist of blood and brain matter covered the wall behind him. Another bullet hit a man in the neck, and blood spurted out of his neck and sprayed their beige furniture. Blood, dust, and debris soon coated Rylee’s toys and her favorite blanket as Rylee screamed and reached for her. She was trapped on the other side of the room as Rylee reached for her, screaming “Mommy, help me.” Two dogs tore into a man before they melted back into men. Their faces were gone, though, split apart by the bullets. Rylee screamed as the carnage continued.

  “I’m here, Rylee.” Avery choked on the words as she tried to keep herself calm to soothe her.

  Sam’s hands stroked her legs, and his deep, soothing voice filled the room. “Come on, sweetie. Snap out of it.”

  After a few heart-wrenching moments, Rylee’s cries finally calmed. Exhausted, she lay limp in Avery’s arms while Sam stroked her leg. Gage held her hand, and Avery stroked her hair back and planted gentle kisses on her forehead. “That’s it, baby girl. Come on out of it.”

  Chiron frowned as he watched. “It’s definitely a PTSD flashback. I am going to need to have a look at the different regions of her brain to see which ones are affected. If she is treated by a specialist for human younglings, they can repair any damage, and then therapy will help her learn how to talk again.”

  Avery held Rylee closer. “You’re going to what?”

  Sam gripped her hand. “It’s not what you think. Healers are a type of sorcerer or witch. They can use energy to see parts of the body, and either heal or make medicine that will allow the body to heal itself. He’s not going to open her head and look at her brain.”

  “It’s okay, Healer. Do what you need to.” Sam took Avery’s hand. “It’s going to be okay, I promise. Think of him as a living MRI scanner.”

  Rylee had fallen into her post-flashback crash. She whimpered as she stared at a picture on the wall and Avery rocked her. She didn’t have much choice, because this couldn’t continue. Her little girl had to get better, and if letting this old man have a look at her helped, then she’d let him.

  “Rylee. Chiron is going to help you,” Sam Said.

  Chiron looked over at Avery. “This part would be easier if we put her somewhere we can help hold her still. It won’t hurt her, but it feels very odd. Almost a burning sensation, but it’s just cold. To a small youngling like Rylee, it will be scary and she may try to get away.”

  “Does he have to? She’s been through enough already.”

  “Dear, I know it’s scary for a mother to allow this,” Chiron explained gently. “But it would be like asking a surgeon if he really needed to take an X-ray to see an injury.”

  “You promise it won’t hurt her.” Avery met Sam’s gaze. He loved her. She saw that clearly now. He wouldn’t lie to her.

  Sam shook his head. “I’ve had this done many times. It isn’t painful at all. It feels like it may hurt, but it never turns into pain.”

  “Okay.” She sagged in both fear and relief. Would her baby finally be on a path to recovery?

  “Grab these pillows, and let’s move to the dining room. That table is sturdy enough and the right height.”

  Avery lifted Rylee in her arms while Gage and Sam took some pillows off the bed. They made a little nest of pillows on the table, and Avery placed Rylee down facing the head of the table.

  Chiron poured some clear liquid into a glass. “What is Rylee’s favorite drink?”

  “She likes hot chocolate the best.”

  “With whipped cream on top,” Gage added and walked through the doorway and into the kitchen. He returned a few moments later with a mug of warm water and a pouch of hot cocoa mix.

  Chiron poured some of the water into the cup. “All right, this will help relax Rylee, and it will also make her forget this. We don’t want to add any more to her existing anxiety. She may fight and cry, but she’ll just be scared.”

  Chiron held the cup up to Rylee, and once she got a sip, she quickly drank the rest of it down. It didn’t take long for her eyes to appear unfocused, and she swayed.

  “All right, I need you all to make sure Rylee doesn’t hurt herself and try to keep her still. I will need to concentrate on looking at what parts of her brain need healing, and which ones will heal on their own if we can just control her anxiety.”

  “You concentrate on your work, and we’ll keep a hold of Rylee,” Sam assured the healer. He took her legs while Avery and Gage held her hands. Rylee blinked, and her face turned ashen. Tears formed in her eyes as Avery saw the realization dawn on her that they were going to probably do something she wouldn’t like.

  “It’s okay, baby girl. Mama’s here.”

  Chiron gently stroked Rylee’s dark hair. “Rylee, listen to me, sweetheart. I am going to touch your forehead. You’ll feel funny. Maybe like it’s cold, or you’re falling. You’re not either. Your mom and dads are all right here. You squeeze their hands if you get scared.”

  Rylee let in a stuttering breath, and her pleading eyes pulled at Avery’s heart. Her baby was so scared. She glanced up at the healer. He’d called Gage and Sam Rylee’s dads. Despite the situation, a smile played at her lips. She liked that, a lot. Rylee had two big strong dads that would kick anyone’s ass that ever messed with her again.

  The healer placed both hands on Rylee’s forehead. His fingers spanned the circumference of her face and her chin, while he buried his thumbs in her hair. For a moment, Rylee was still, and then the sensations Chiron warned them about must have started. She struggled to move, and when the three of them held her immobile, she started to cry.

  “Here’s your dolly, Rylee, hold her close. She’s scared.” Gage’s soft voice floated over the dining room table. Riley gripped her doll as she continued to struggle and cry.

  Sam stroked her arm that held her doll. “It’s okay. Please calm down. I’d never let anyone hurt you.” Avery glanced at Sam and Gage. She was used to Rylee’s fear responses. It was as if her brain had an overaggressive response to scary things, like when men came to the door and she’d run upstairs and hide. Sam and Gage had never witnessed this before, and she imagined it was quite awful for them. Rylee wasn’t screaming like a child acting out in anger. She was afraid.

  Rylee reached for Sam, and her eyes plead with him to pick her up.

  “I can’t. I wish I could. I will just as soon as the healer finishes, okay?”

  Sweat broke out on Chiron’s face as he concentrated while Rylee cried and tried to move. It was awful to watch, but somehow, Avery understood this would help Rylee so much more than anything else she’d tried.

  Just when she was sure Rylee couldn’t take anymore, Chiron nodded at them. “Pick her up and get her calmed down.” He sat in a chair an
d took a breath. “Once I get a drink, I’ll talk to Yerel again, and then we’ll discuss how we will get Rylee better.”

  Sam picked Rylee up, and she laid her head on his shoulder as he patted her back. “There, it’s all done. You’re okay, just like I told you.” Rylee’s eyes closed almost immediately, and her tense muscles relaxed.

  Gage took Avery in his arms. “It sounded worse than it was. It just frightened her.”

  “I know. I recognized that fear look in her eyes. She does this quite often.”

  “She screams like this?” Gage’s eyebrows rose in surprise.

  “No, no. She gets scared and wants to run away. It used to be every man, and then she got used to you and Sam doing nice things for her. She gets scared very easy though, and then overreacts like this.”

  “We’ll fix it. The brain is very hard to heal, but if anyone can, our healers can.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  The house was quiet except for the ticking of the large grandfather clock in the dining room. The ticking and whirling of the gears was almost comforting as they all sat and waited for Chiron to give them his diagnosis. Avery wrung her sweaty hands together as she waited.

  As if he sensed her anxiety, Gage wrapped his arm around her while Sam leaned forward with his elbows braced on his knees. Chiron sat in a leather armchair with his elbows on his knees and his finger tented under his chin. Rylee had slept hard since Chiron’s examination of her ended a few hours ago, and the healer had been on a conference call with several of his colleagues who had experience working with children.

  She glanced at the living room where they’d laid her to sleep and wondered if her baby was okay. She’d never slept like this before. She didn’t even stir when they’d undressed her and put her in a sleeping shirt.

  “It’s okay,” Gage whispered in her ear as if he could read her thoughts. “Chiron gave her that medicine. It put her to sleep, and when she wakes up, she won’t remember what Chiron did, or if she does, it won’t affect her.”

  Chiron still looked a little weary, but his eyes were clear. “I’ve spoken to Yerel about what I observed in Rylee’s brain. She does have severe PTSD that overlaid existing anxiety. There are definite changes in the amygdala region of her brain. It’s the area of the brain that regulates emotions, especially fear. Then there is another area that helps to keep her fear response in check that is not functioning properly. The higher-thinking part of her brain, the vmPFC, usually sends a signal to her brain and rationalizes that everything is fine. That has malfunctioned, so not only is her fear response greatly exaggerated, but also her reasoning skills aren’t functioning normally. She can’t rationalize that she is in no danger, and her parents will keep her safe. That is where her need to run comes from. In a nutshell, her amygdala is running unchecked and exacerbating her existing anxiety.”

  Avery wrung her hands together. Her poor baby! Chiron made it sound like she was drowning in fear all the time. “She did have some issues with anxiety before. She was always kind of fearful of people and situations and hid behind me when new people were around. She was nothing like this though.”

  Chiron’s gaze was intense as he stared at her. “None of this is your doing, Avery. Rylee’s condition is not any different from children who have an appendicitis. It’s a medical problem that we can fix, and we will. She’ll have a recovery time where one of the apprentice healers will work with her and get her talking again. Before you know it, she’ll be back to a normal little four-year-old.”

  Gage pressed in closer and his hand rubbed her back. “I told you,” he whispered. Sam’s finger tented under his chin as he regarded the healer.

  Avery hunched over as tears started to flow. The healer promised her that Rylee would be back to normal. She was going to have her sweet little girl back. She’d seen what he did with Sam. If the guy could heal gunshot wounds in hours instead of weeks, she believed he could help her daughter.

  “Did you two say you planned to join the meeting Marcus and Derek were holding at their pack in North Carolina?”

  “Yes,” Sam said. “We’re going to meet up with Devon at his mate’s parent’s home tomorrow for a dinner, and then we were going to head to North Carolina from there.”

  Avery’s eyebrows rose. She was grateful for everything they were doing, but were they ever going to discuss this with her, Rylee’s mother? “And when were you going to tell me about this?”

  All three sets of eyes turned to her, and she wanted to shrink into her seat. Gage was the first to smile. “Sorry, we were going to discuss all of this last night with you, but—”

  “It’s not safe for you to be here without us.” Sam leaned forward, and she could sense his dominance emanating off him. He didn’t phrase it as a question, but informed her in a tone that left no argument.

  “So, I have no say at all. I just follow you?”

  Chiron nodded, Gage winced, and Sam’s gaze stayed locked on hers. “Do you want Rylee to get better?” the healer asked.

  That wasn’t fair at all, but by the way Chiron grinned at her face, he was used to being unfair to induce cooperation.

  “Of course. What kind of question is that?”

  Sam patted her leg gently. “Well, then we will head to North Carolina, where the healer that is an expert with younglings will be. Besides, Marcus is used to holding these kinds of things. He has a lot of space, and there is a club close to there as well where we can explore how much BDSM you’d enjoy.”

  Gage chuckled a bit. “Avery, Sam is used to issuing orders and having his minions jump to do his bidding. Just spank his ass.”

  Sam grinned. “I dare you. Try to spank me. I promise you that I will not be the one with a red ass. Remember, The Underground is there, and our membership is still valid. Avery will have a quick conversation with Owen, and we can have some fun.”

  Avery’s arousal started flowing with his dark promise. A BDSM club? She’d read about it in books and wondered what it would be like. She had a feeling that Sam would make it enjoyable.

  “And with that, I will take my leave. I will contact Yerel and let him know when you will arrive. He will take care of things on his end.”

  Sam gave Avery a quick kiss. “I need to contact the Texas Ranger office and give them an update on this motorcycle shit. We’re not the only town that had a shooting.”

  “I’m going to find out which enforcers are riding with us to the Dawson home, and to the airport.” Gage winked at Avery in a way that offered her a promise of things to come later. In case she didn’t understand his implication, his lips met hers in a passionate kiss. She gasped with the intensity, and then his tongue invaded and he gripped the back of her neck and held her captive in his embrace.

  When he let her go, her knees were weak and her clit throbbed. Wasn’t it just last night they’d had amazing sex? And here she was wanting them again. “I’ll be back soon.” Gage gave her forehead another soft kiss, and then he was gone, leaving her alone in the room with her thoughts.

  She had so many strange feelings swirling within her. While she was a little afraid of what the future held, she also had that feeling deep in her soul that she was exactly where she was meant to be. She’d taken the long way to finally make it home, but even now with the dust settling, this felt right.

  Evelyn walked in holding a small luggage bag. “Am I disturbing you, dear?”

  “Of course not.” She smiled at Sam and Gage’s mother.

  “I checked on Rylee. She’s really resting now. She needs it. The next few days will be hard on her.”

  “Do you think it will hurt?” Avery could feel that pain filling her soul already if their treatments hurt her baby.

  “If they do, they will give her medicine to either numb it, or she will forget the pain as the drugs wear off. A lot of times when any healer, human or supernatural, messes with the brain, they have to keep their patient awake. They will do everything they can to keep her comfortable, though.”

  “I wonder if sh
e’ll start talking right away?” Avery wondered how that was going to work. Would she just sit up and say ‘Hi, Mommy’?

  “Maybe, but it may also come slowly. Like how mobility comes back slowly after a bad sprain, her speech may take a while.”

  Avery nodded, and then she glanced at Evelyn’s bag. “Are you leaving?”

  “I need to get back to my mate. There is a big meeting in North Carolina about the Vampire, Mortef, who’s been attacking packs and families that support them. I will travel there with my mate, while you two go and celebrate Thanksgiving with the Dawsons.”

  They both gazed at her house out the window. The silence between them wasn’t uncomfortable, but more like the silence between two kindred spirits who didn’t need words to fill a room in order to be comfortable.

  After a while, Evelyn took Avery’s hand. “If it is okay with you, could we plan a formal mating ceremony for you?”

  “Do you mean like a wedding?”

  Evelyn nodded. “That is pretty much what it is, although it is more for us to have a reason to throw a party. The marriage was done the moment you two exchanged blood and other bodily fluids.”

  A wedding. She’d never envisioned herself getting married. It was a dream she’d abandoned years ago after she got pregnant with Rylee. “I—” She swallowed hard to keep herself from crying. “I would really love that, Evelyn. Thank you.”

  Evelyn smiled. “I know sometimes we can feel rather powerless, but it’s not the reality at all. These men would do anything for you, and not because the stars fated your mating, but because they love you.”

  “I love them, too.” It was becoming easier to say it out loud. She’d lived for so long just being an arm piece or a warm body to fuck. She’d never had one much less two men care for her. Even when she was rejecting them, they cared for her and Rylee.

  “I know you do. I know you’ve been hurt and used in the past, but that will never happen again.”

  “This is really forever?”